'American Masters' looks at the world of Andrew Wyeth

09/04/2018 10:24AM
● By J. Chambless

The studio of Andrew Wyeth, which has been opened to visitors. (Photo by Carlos Alejandro)

In a brand-new Andrew Wyeth documentary
on the PBS series “American Masters,” viewers can go behind the
scenes of the Brandywine River Museum of Art, its historic Wyeth
properties and collections, and explore the area that three
generations of Wyeth artists called home.

Airing on Sept. 7, “WYETH: The Life
of Andrew Wyeth Told in Bold Strokes” captures a complete portrait
of Wyeth’s world, with unprecedented access to the artist’s work,
archival materials, and interviews with family members, friends and
scholars.

“WYETH” tells the story of one of
America’s best-known artists. It captures the Brandywine River
Museum of Art and its surrounding properties, including footage shot
in the artist’s studio, childhood home, his father N.C. Wyeth’s
studio, and Kuerner Farm.

Andrew Wyeth painted many of his most
important works of art in his Chadds Ford studio. Given to the
Brandywine by the artist’s wife, Betsy James Wyeth, the studio now
provides visitors with an opportunity to experience this personal
space where Wyeth painted from 1940 until 2008.

Thousands of works of art are
associated with this studio, inspired by the people, architecture and
landscapes of Chadds Ford. The studio still houses the furnishings,
library and collections acquired by the artist, as well as examples
of the art materials he used throughout his career.

On tours of N.C. Wyeth’s House &
Studio, visitors are immersed in the childhood home of Andrew Wyeth,
where his artist father, N.C., nourished a family of extraordinary
creativity. His house and studio, located five minutes from the
museum, retain much of their original character. The main studio
still contains many of the props that were essential to the work of
an illustrator, including a birch-bark canoe hanging from the rafters
and a collection of firearms. The house, with its country
furnishings, reveals a more intimate picture of family life. Guided
tours of both properties introduce visitors to the various aspects of
Wyeth’s accomplished career and to the other members of his
talented family.

“WYETH” tells the story of one of
America’s most popular, but least understood, artists. Coming from
a family of successful artists, including his commanding father,
Andrew was raised to be an artist. Unprecedented access to archival
footage from the Wyeth family reveals his early immersion in a
creative world.

Andrew Wyeth exhibitions consistently
broke attendance records at the most prestigious art museums across
the country. Detailing the drawings and portraits created in
Pennsylvania and on the coast of Maine, the documentary shows the
artist’s mastery of the form and why his work appealed to audiences
around the world. He confidently continued to paint the people and
places he knew, undeterred by the dramatic evolution of the art
world. His sensational paintings of Helga Testorf landed cover
stories in both Time and Newsweek. Interviews with
family and friends, including Helga, demonstrate the effect on Andrew
of living and working in the public eye.

Art critics and historians are
rediscovering and reinterpreting his work. Layers of complexity in
the art are revealed and celebrated by some of the most preeminent
scholars of American art.

After the premiere of the new
documentary on PBS, it will be available to stream beginning on Sept.
8 at www.pbs.org/americanmastersand on PBS apps. It also will be
available at the Brandywine's Museum Shop on DVD.